What Festool Dealers Do You Like? Dislike?

[Kapitaldream]

You are right Nickao, Hafele is the only source. Out west here I know of no one within Hafele that is knowledgeable of the product line like the Festool dealers in the States, such as Bill at Festool Supply. Hafele doesn't stock the full line, a hose garage was special order for me. Hafele does have some people out of Burlington who are knowledgeable and for myself buying from the Hafele branch out of Calgary I have saved about $500 in taxes and freight, just that you have to do a lot of your own research and be patient. Lee Valley is supposed to be coming on line soon.
Steve

 

[Carson]

Lee Valley is supposed to be coming on line soon

Steve,
Do you know something we don't?
You can't just throw that out there and leave us dangling man.

 

[ericbuggeln]

While being 31 probably makes me a youngster around here, I'm going to have to say that I think working in a mixture of units works best for me. I'm starting my shop from scratch, and leaning heavily on plans from others to get me more familiar with how to set things up. While they are almost always imperial, I'll just make a first pass with a calculator to scratch in the metric translations before I begin. Then, I'll use some tools with imperial measurements and some tools (usually with green on them) with metric measurements, and I'll have my measurement in front of me. When I need to figure something, like divide a measure in thirds, I find it much easier to do it with the metric measurement. When I need to estimate something, like how far apart a regularly spaced thing should be, I think better in inches (so far).

I am trying to lessen the number of times I have to do conversions, and I wonder if it is possible to get something like a benchtop tablesaw (like the rigid or bosch that Matthew reviewed) with a metric scale. To link this back to the topic of this thread, I'd like a dealer who could line up tools like that with built in metric scales. It would certainly make good marketing sense for festool dealers to at least carry some of the aforementioned metric conversion aids!

Graphex, I've got you beat at 30. I look at that as a really good thing though b/c I have personally learned so much from this group(many of which are probably my fathers age) about festool, but also a lot of industry experience stuff that you otherwise have to learn the hard way.  My theory is that if we're the youngest ones who know enough to seek this knowledge now and care enough to spend our free time trying to sharpen our craft then we should be at the top of the list to takeover when it's our time.  Unfortunately some damn kid was just born who's already gunning for us

I just got the Rousseau Table Saw Stand for the DW745.  The outfeed table will be here on Monday.  I quickly set it up and then left for the weekend to ski in 75 degree weather in Killington VT.  I got it from Amazon ($475.00 shipped) and the tape, knob for the fence, and possibly other stuff was missing, but the table was very well built and I think it's going to be a great compliment to the Festool system and my on-site work.  I will take pics when the rest of the shipment arrives and let you know how it is.

 

[ericbuggeln]

I almost forgot, you could only wish that everyone you dealt with was as pleasant as Timmy c.  Besides being the "Decider" he really knows his festools and I have found his advice has been very beneficial.  He's also a wicked cool dude, which is nice.

 

[Cannuck]

Oh no! If Lee Valley gets the Festool line, then I'm seriously in trouble.  I'll end up buying everything in the Festool Catalogue and Lee Valley Catalogue too.  Lee Valley has a large showroom in Ottawa and whenever I go in there to buy a small item, I get distracted by all of the "shiny objects" and end up with a new block plane, chisels or something!

Lee Valley has excellent service, high quality products and knowledgeable staff.  They are a great fit for Festool.

I have to admit though, when I bought my Leigh Dovetail Jig from Lee Valley recently, I was disappointed that none of the staff on the floor or counter (on two separate visits) had used the jig, or could speak about it.  With Festool, I agree you need people to be trained (read: converted) to the Festool system to be able to effectively sell it.  Mind you, anyone that shops at Lee Valley and is willing to spend $275 on a bench plane (manual), is less likely to scoff at a $575 TS75 saw.

{Fingers crossed}

 

[AndrewDS]

I put in an order before the increase at the beginning of the month to TimmyC.  I have dealt with him before and he helped me out.  I received the items fast and he let me know that one of the items was coming from Festool directly.  He has always answered any of my questions really fast.  Good service and I will go back to him!

 

[Kapitaldream]

Jim sorry about being slow to respond, this is my busy season. Tomorrow I off to Ocean Falls for several days and then back to repairing boats here in Port Hardy which is on the north end of Vancouver Island.
I have corresponded with both Robin Lee who is very keen on getting the franchise and as we all know Lee Valley has very good customer service. I have also corresponded with Christian O and when he gets time he has plans to open up Canada to others including Lee Valley. I took one extra step and called Festool in Germany and after bouncing around to a few different people (they don't all speak English and I alas don't speak German) was told by a lady that FestoolUSA has control of both Canada and the US and I should go talk to Christian. So it is just a matter for Christian to take care of, however we don't know just how busy he is what with the new headquarters and who knows what else he has on his plate. FestoolUSA as we all know has excellent service. I had just bought the RO 150 and found out that Hafele didn't have the sanding disc I needed to complete a job (Bill at Festool Supply recommended the type of paper I needed) so I call the western rep for FestoolUSA and within 10 minutes of my sander arriving by courier, another courier arrived with two boxes of crystall 40 grit paper. Free. That I call very good service. So sometime in the near future we should have more choices here in Canada. I should note that Robin said that they would only take it on if they are a stand alone dealer and not a sub of Hafele.

 

[Carson]

Thanks for the info Steve.
As enthusiastic as Sean and Ryan are about the line, I don't think Hafele Canada is really the right vehicle to promote Festool here. Firstly they deal to companies not individuals. Their on line catalog is a bear to negotiate, there is almost no information outside of part number, item name and price available, except for an on line brochure. They don't carry the full range that is available from Festool USA. Common items have to specially ordered.
While they are a regular presence at trade shows, I'm not aware of their bringing this line to any of the public woodworking venues.

Lee Valley's excellent customer service reputation, and the fact they have a presence coast to coast would make them a good fit in my estimation.
Hopefully this will happen soon, or at the very least, lift the shipping restrictions from South of the border.
Jim

 

[pmkierst]

There was an issue with one order that was resolved immediately.  A quick email to Sean in Hafele's  Burlington office, and he expedited the replacement to me immediately, and I had it on the jobsite the next day.  Great service!  Fair prices (As far as Festool products go!) and Free shipping if you use the ground service.

Hafele is an odd company sometimes. I've had a couple of issue, nothing big, and the resolved it practically instantly and perfectly. As you say, the stuff showed up the next day. But the odd part was that I didn't *know* they resolved it. I leave a voice mail with the problem and my phone number, I don't hear back. I check my account the next day, and the stuff is in transit and show up in the aft.

Since pricing is controlled, the monopoly is not really an issue on the basis of price. I have found their service, on the whole, to be excellent. The only really issue is the lack of information and thin catalogue. One hint: Lots of things can be found with a site search which will not show up in the catalogue.

I've been putting off buying the 3000 mm guide rail for a bit now. Maybe time to call Sean...

 

[Ned]

As enthusiastic as Sean and Ryan are about the line, I don't think Hafele Canada is really the right vehicle to promote Festool here. Firstly they deal to companies not individuals. Their on line catalog is a bear to negotiate, there is almost no information outside of part number, item name and price available, except for an on line brochure. They don't carry the full range that is available from Festool USA. Common items have to specially ordered.
While they are a regular presence at trade shows, I'm not aware of their bringing this line to any of the public woodworking venues.

Lee Valley's excellent customer service reputation, and the fact they have a presence coast to coast would make them a good fit in my estimation.
Hopefully this will happen soon, or at the very least, lift the shipping restrictions from South of the border.
Jim

It sounds like Hafele is not so much selling Festool as making the products available for order, if you the customer know what you want.

I have not been to a Lee Valley store, but their US catalog and response to my orders gives me a very high opinion of them.  Of all multiple-location retailers in North America, I immediately thought of Lee Valley as a good fit for Festool.

As I've mentioned before, those outside Canada could benefit from a Festool-Lee Valley connection.  If anyone can design and sell new and different accessories for Festool products, it's Lee Valley-Veritas. 

Nonetheless, Lee Valley is a large enterprise and it will be difficult for them to get their people trained to sell Festool effectively.  By contrast, for example, 100% of Bob Marino's staff knows the tools and their use very well 

I sincerely hope that, in addition to Lee Valley, Festool's Canadian marketing plans will have room for ISAs- individuals and small enterprises that can add enthusiasm, depth of product knowledge, and the ability to address specific trades on their own terms.

Ned

 

[LeoBel]

I live in the midwest. Now that I am retired, I use my assortment of Festools more now than ever, but when I find I need something, I generally need it "NOW" not in 2 weeks! My experience has been limited to 2 major suppliers for major purchases (Sanders, saws Domino, and routers) and a few minor purchases from others (sand paper etc). My major purchases came from AceToolOnline and McFeelys.
Acetool is in New York - far from Illinois but I have had good luck with speaking to some one who is familiar with the products AND has made deliveries as promised.

McFeelys is another story completely! Although they are only about 120 miles away (you could call them my local supplier), I basically have been SCREWED by them twice and have no intension of going back. The first time was when I made a $400 order. I ASKED them to check stock and make sure the items would ship. Well they did NOT. The order came in in drips and drops and I finally ended up cancelling the rest and re-ordering from Acetoolonline!

The second time was just recently. I made a $500 plus order online from Mcfeely's. I called to make sure I items were "In Stock". They said they were and because my order was over $150, the shipping was free. I ordered ON LINE and received a receipt ON LINE. Two days later, I checked my credit card and they had charged an "UNORTHORIZED" shipping charge. When I called them, they said that the FREE SHIPPING did NOT apply to the item I ordered! I asked them to delete the charge because I explained that their site SAID the shipping was free. They would NOT reverse the charges

 

[peter halle]

As a customer who has dealt with McFeely's for more than twenty years, I am surprised to see your post.  I would suggest that you contact them directly and ask to speak to a supervisor or higher.

I have had nothing but stellar service from every Festool dealer I have dealt with including the one you have had issues with.

Peter

 

[jacko9]

I've had nothing but very good experiences from Festool Dealers.  I first used Beaver Tools and spoke to the owner for his advice on my Domino Joiner purchase.  The owner (John - I think [eek]) talked to me about bundling the domino with a dust collection system and a tenon assortment.  That purchase was a great experience and his recommendations were right on.

I went back to Beaver tools for my PS300 EQ Jigsaw and blades and was very satisfied with that purchase.

After joining the FOG forum,  I decided to look at a sander replacement and went to a local supplier (Japan Woodworker) and spent hours with the ETS 125, 150/3 and RO90.  I purchased the 125 with assorted sanding disks but after two weeks, I went back and traded my 125 for the 150/3 and I added the RO 90.  My experience with Japan Woodworker was also very good.

Recently I purchased a Sys-Port and systainers with sanding disks from Tom Bellemare and again for more Platin 2 disks.  A very excellent purchasing experience.

I also recently used McFeelys to purchase a sortianer with a screw assortment, a very nice combination.

Bottom Line, Festool dealers are very professional people and I won't say a bad word about any of them.

 

[ccarrolladams]

Several Festool dealers have treated me very well. I have never purchased Festools from a dealer who I felt was indifferent or who attempted to seem knowledgeable while forgetting teachings during dealer class.

My primary Festool dealer is Eagle Tools of Los Angeles, owned by Jesse Barragán, who has been one of my favorite woodworking experts for about 30 years. It also happens that his brother Ruben has been my go-to industrial/commercial plumbing contractor as long. My first sip of the green Kool-Ade back in 2006 was shortly after Jesse opened his current location including a massive inventory of Festools.

My memory is that in early 2006 Anderson Plywood of Culver City and Austin Hardwood and Hardware of Santa Ana were already Festool dealers. I had been buying cabinet material from them for quite some time. They are lovely folks and have excellent Festool specialists on staff, but I do not remember every buying any thing Festool from them.

Currently there are many Festool dealers in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Except for the three I have mentioned I have not encountered anyone working for the other stores who convinced me they could safely plug in a Festool.

Allen Kingsley is the Southern California Festool rep I have known the longest and trust like a brother I like. I know I met Allen when he worked for Anderson Plywood, but it could be that by 2006 Allen had joined Festool as a rep.

Several folks told me about Jay Andrews out in Palm Desert, CA a few miles east of Palm Springs. Originally Jay and I had communicated because he owns a very sophisticated woodworking shop. Before I opened my own shop I rented space from people like Jay, and I sourced specialized services. Then on FOG I read that In Touch International was opening The Festool Store in Palm Desert. I sent them an e-mail and that was how I learned this is another Jay Andrews business. I have attended several events at their marvelous store, still devoted to Festool. All of their staff have been trained by Steve Bace and could work as Festool reps. They have an excellent website besides the physical store, so sometimes they have been able to UPS me supplies very fast. "Aldo" is the primary FOG contact for The Festool Store. A super fellow.

On-line at a greater distance is Tom Bellemare in Austin, TX owner of Tool Home. Tom sells a lot of Festools and knows them well enough he could work in my shop if I could afford him. He also sells many other lines of quality tools. On those rare occasions when I run out of something Festool which is not in stock at Eagle Tool or The Festool Store, my next phone call is to Tom.

Bob Marino has also given me good service the couple of times I ordered from him. Because I run a California based business, I have to pay use tax if sales tax was not added to invoices. Therefore it actually costs me some accounting time when sales tax is not part of the dealer's invoice. I appreciate that Tom B understands this and is willing to collect the California sales tax.

A retired fellow in a Festool class I attended was then working part-time for a chain which sells Festools. That fellow knows Festools, but the same cannot be said for anyone working in branches of that same chain where I have shopped. Heh, I own a large and prosperous cabinet shop, so I have accounts with a whole lot of cabinet hardware wholesale suppliers. Trust me, I can detect BS a mile away, so such chains do not impress me.

On a trip in late 2010 I had a free day. I also happened to be in need of a Tru-32 tape measure, the ones with metric and Imperial, plus a blue dot every 32mm. So when I saw a store selling Festools I figured I would look around and by the tape measure. Well, yes they had a few Festools, but none set up for demonstration. They sold large woodworking machines. A sales person was explaining a bandsaw to a couple. Nothing being said about the saw made any sense. I was the only other non-employee in the store and that day I was wearing a suit. After a half hour no sales person offered to help me.

I waited at the counter until another sales person approached me. I asked about Festools and was told the person selling those was away. So I asked about the tape measure. Although there was a display of Tru tape measures on the wall behind the counter, the sales person talking to me had to asked two other sales folks, despite my pointing to what I wanted. Apparently none of them knew where to find anything or the features of any of their inventory. Nevertheless I did buy the Tru-32 from them that day and vowed I would never spend a dime with that store or others in the small chain ever again.

Dealers like that must make it frustrating for jay, Jesse, Tom and Bob!

 

[Wim]

I have only good experiences with the Festool dealers. In Holland I did business with 3 different dealers in my hometown. From one dealer I bought my "big stuff". My sole transport was a bike and one of the sales persons dropped the boxes off after working hours and carried them 2 flight of stairs up into my house. For smaller stuff like saw blades or dust bags I had to go sometimes to another dealer because some dealers did not stock the material I needed.
In the USA I ordered my "big stuff" from Bob M. because of the praise on this and other forums. And he deserved the praise. For my smaller stuff I went to the local Woodcraft. I did not expect that everybody there would know everything about Festool but they always had somebody who knew something and together we could work things out. And they were always very friendly.
Regarding Festool I had no bad experiences.

 

[Kev]

Usually in this case, service comes down to an individual. That said, training and management needs to ensure individuals reflect the right principles and values.

A short related story ...

I was quite a distance from my local dealer and drove by a tool shop displaying a Festool sign (this was in the inner western suburbs of Sydney, Australia - my local is Northern Abrasives in Brookvale). The tool shop in question had a large display of CXS ... It caught my eye as I was browsing and on of the sales people called out from behind the counter something like "great deal those, exclusive to our store, won't be repeating and they're the last ones" ... I thanked him and walked out. All the moron needed to do was get off of his fat backside and walk over to enquire if I needed assistance - but instead he tried to con me.

Normally I would go to the effort of contacting the store manager and give them some feedback to hopefully improve their service ... but on this occasion there were two people sitting, doing absolutely nothing, behind the counter. Maybe driving a new Audi and wearing a suit put the guy off his game - their loss.

 

[sancho57]

I was by my local San Diego Rockler just to pick up plastic drawer runners(Rockler = misc. cabinet stuff) and was amazed to see the complete Festool line-up. I started talking to some of the staff and they seemed very annoyed by the very presence the Festool tools taking up precious floor space that could have been better occupied by a Jet bandsaw or something. I laughed and walked out.

Hi Eiji,

I'm also in San Diego, and I had a similar experience. They're nice guys at Rockler, but it's clear that they don't really get how much better the Festools are than other brands. I spent some time once showing them (the Rockler guys) some of the capabilities of the MFT, saws, routers and sanders, but I don't think it really resonated. On the other hand, I purchased my Festools at TH&H (off Miramar Rd). This was before Rockler carried them. Tom Drinnan (I think that's his name) knows more about Festools than the Rockler guys, and will help you figure out what you need. I'm happy to keep giving them my business (several thousand $$ so far). Too bad about Rockler - they're missing an opportunity to build a client base, and Festool is missing a lot of potential customers. I think that Rockler needs to sell the "system" aspect of Festools more... Why buy just one..?

Poto

I went to te Rocklers in OC  had the same thing happen, I was going to buy a a Kapex, Kapex FT a extensions, I stood around waiting for someone to help me, the manager walked by me a few times complaining about my dog in the store and was pretty much ignored by the staff, so I left and have not darkened their door since ,

Austins (Santa Ana) WoodCraft (Stanton) Ganahl Anaheim all are very good and knowledgeable and sell me what I need not to just make a sale.

I have also bought from Tom and Bob, both are awesome to deal with helpful and very nice guys to boot.

 

[Steve R]

I was by my local San Diego Rockler just to pick up plastic drawer runners(Rockler = misc. cabinet stuff) and was amazed to see the complete Festool line-up. I started talking to some of the staff and they seemed very annoyed by the very presence the Festool tools taking up precious floor space that could have been better occupied by a Jet bandsaw or something. I laughed and walked out.

Hi Eiji,

I'm also in San Diego, and I had a similar experience. They're nice guys at Rockler, but it's clear that they don't really get how much better the Festools are than other brands. I spent some time once showing them (the Rockler guys) some of the capabilities of the MFT, saws, routers and sanders, but I don't think it really resonated. On the other hand, I purchased my Festools at TH&H (off Miramar Rd). This was before Rockler carried them. Tom Drinnan (I think that's his name) knows more about Festools than the Rockler guys, and will help you figure out what you need. I'm happy to keep giving them my business (several thousand $$ so far). Too bad about Rockler - they're missing an opportunity to build a client base, and Festool is missing a lot of potential customers. I think that Rockler needs to sell the "system" aspect of Festools more... Why buy just one..?

Poto

I went to te Rocklers in OC  had the same thing happen, I was going to buy a a Kapex, Kapex FT a extensions, I stood around waiting for someone to help me, the manager walked by me a few times complaining about my dog in the store and was pretty much ignored by the staff, so I left and have not darkened their door since ,

Austins (Santa Ana) WoodCraft (Stanton) Ganahl Anaheim all are very good and knowledgeable and sell me what I need not to just make a sale.

I have also bought from Tom and Bob, both are awesome to deal with helpful and very nice guys to boot.

When I read subject line of this post I was not even sure it should be here/allowed.. When I read the thread I see it's need and appreciative that FOG members are levelheaded and really bring up real issues. Other forum sites would get ugly when a topic like this comes up.

I do have to say that Rockler was my and my business partners first experience with a Festool dealer that had started from some research online from the search my B - partner only found Rockler as the only dealer on the web the Twin-cities Metro Market.  For the kind of money Festool costs, the first time we were thinking about purchasing we felt we had to touch the product before dropping the $$$. It was our fault that we had not done as much research as we could of, but we had done as much as we do for any other product thought from our readings that a company like Festool would only be sold by well qualified dealers.

Boy-oh-boy were were wrong....  If we had not later found the Bloomington, MN Woodcraft carried Festool.... I don't know that we would have purchased more Festool.

Rockler's HQ is in MN and it ticks us off that a MN company is as lame as it is. It also ticks us off that Woodcraft had to do damage control to build back what the Rocker employees had torn down....  Such as... "just buy the Fein vac don't waste your money on a Festool...it is just as good, but it is quieter and they are cheaper than the over-priced Festool" 

If I owned Festool USA Rockler would not be a dealer.

But that is my opinion.  As someone the helped build Best Buy from a regional company to a few billion dollar world wide company

Cheers,
Steve

 

[epicxt]

I've had over-the-top fantastic service from Bob Marino in the two orders I've placed, even though the first order was picky and troublesome (through mistakes on my part). Living in Seattle, I'm blessed with at least four local dealers, and I've found 3 of them to be very knowledgeable and helpful. My favorite local dealers are Woodcraft, Hardwicks, and Crosscut Hardwoods.

 

[truck90278]

An interesting read----I've had mixed responses from stores such as Rockler and Woodcraft and of course great service from Bob.  I believe we tend to expect that all employees of stores should be experts in all items sold by companies such as Rockler and Woodcraft - which is probably beyond reasonable expectations.  This is no different than in any other industry.  I work for a major Defense/Aerospace contractor, in which you will find individuals within any specialty which have varying degrees of knowledge on any one subject.  I lead small teams when my company is pursuing potential large new business contracts which requires a high degree of knowledge, many individuals who on a day-to-day basis can do great jobs, may fail when filling a roll on our teams.  I look at the stores such as Rockler and Woodcraft the same way.  These stores may have only 4-5 regular employees - is it feasible to have someone thoroughly knowledgeable in all lines of tools or woodworking experience - probably not.  If you have a stores such as Anderson's plywood, I would expect to find employees with higher skill levels in the knowledge of the tools. I have gone into both Rockler and Woodcraft and walked around without ever being acknowledged myself and have some of the same experiences Carroladams has experienced- extremely frustrating.  I believe this is more the case of the individual employee's attitudes than the stores owners or managers.

How I became involved the Festool slippery slope, was on an extended business trip in Michigan (i live in Redondo Beach, California).  Needed a break out of the office on a Saturday morning and went to a near by Rockler store to see their demonstration.  The individual demonstrating the Kreg Pocket hole system was (my guess) retired and working in the store part time.  After he completed the demo, I was discussing what he might suggest for an upgrade for a table saw.  His comment was "why a table saw, why not a Festool TS55".  Knowing that i was from out of state, and wouldn't be buying from them, he spent the next 1/2 hour with me showing me how he used HIS ts 55.  The result of that was the beginning of my slide.  The Rockler store by my home carries a small (limited) display of Festool products and there is some limitation on the employees knowledge of the line however, whenever I've wanted to test a tool, i was always accommodated.

That said, rather long winded, if your going to deal with business that probably cater to mostly hobbyist, you will get a mixed bad of service.  when you deal with highly specialized companies such as Anderson or other similar companies you should expect a higher level of service.  I'm sure many people here on the FOG have experience trying to hire individuals with a high degree of knowledge in there respective fields, how easy is that to do?